SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER (1977)

 

In contrast, though writer Beverley Cross wasn't working with material as resonant as he did in 1963's JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and 1981's CLASH OF THE TITANS, he gives his simple characters a great more diversity, with the exception of Sinbad, who is like Perseus of TITANS something of a thickwit.  Cross gets a great deal of character mileage out of the way various characters react to Kassim's status as a baboon.  This status even ends up working to the benefit of the heroes, when the ape-ified prince is able to enlist the help of another "ape-man," a horned troglodyte predictably nicknamed "Trog." The rather boring "A-story" of the love between Sinbad and Princess Farah is superseded by the "B-story" of a blossoming relationship between Kassim and Dione, daughter of the scholar Melanthius.  Amusingly, their relationship is initially more like beast and keeper, a la 1949's MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, but enough tenderness develops that it carries over when Kassim recovers his human status.  Trog also has a certain Kong-like effectiveness missing in the rest of the monsters. Finally, though the evil witch Zenobia is a routine Morgan Le Fay type, seeking to overthrow the rightful rulers in order to put her son Rafi on the throne, the witch and her son at least have different skill-sets: Rafi is the master of mechanics who builds the Minaton, while Zenobia brings it to life with her magic-- one of TIGER's most mythic scenes.


I should note that a number of motifs from GOLDEN VOYAGE seem derived from 1940's THE THIEF OF BAGDAD-- the use of eye-motifs, a multi-armed idol, a bunch of savage green natives.  However, GOLDEN doesn't use any of these to any great effect.  But then, THIEF is one of the greatest magical fantasy-films of all time, so it's no stain on Harryhausen's career not to have reached those heights.

I suppose, though, that the performance of the villain shifts the weight back toward GOLDEN.  Tom Baker's Koura is simply a lot more fulsomely evil than Margaret Whiting's Zenobia, though Baker does get somewhat better dialogue.  GOLDEN may even have had greater influence on pop culture, since reputedly Baker's perf led to his indelible role as "Doctor Who," while the most influence TIGER has had is a possible contribution to one of ROCKY's themesongs.